- US weekly jobless claims inch up to 199,000
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“A report released by the US Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for US unemployment benefits edged slightly higher in the week ended October 10th. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims ticked up to 199,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 198,000.” (10/15/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/us-weekly-jobless-claims-inch-130331899.html
- UK: Man killed by tiger climbed two fences, died from “multiple injuries”
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A man who was attacked by a tiger after climbing two fences to enter its enclosure at a wildlife park died of ‘multiple traumatic injuries’, an inquest has heard. William Chapman visited Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster on Saturday and entered the animal’s pen. The 24-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and died of ‘multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction’, the opening of his inquest at Doncaster Coroner’s Court heard. Senior coroner Nicola Mundy said he had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis. His family had raised concerns about his contact with Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust, the hearing was told. Chapman was under adult mental health services in Doncaster but was ‘highly functioning and independent with no care requirements’, the inquest heard.” (10/15/26)
- UK: Publisher, author bend the knee to regime censorship
Source: Associated Press
“British booksellers are caught up in a battle over terrorism and free speech after Irish novelist Sally Rooney said her books can no longer be sold in the U.K. because she financially supports the banned group Palestine Action. … The [regime’s] ban makes membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. … After the U.K. banned Palestine Action in July 2025, Rooney said she would use proceeds from her books and their TV adaptations to support the group. On Wednesday her U.K. publisher, Faber, said that paying her royalties could violate the terror ban and it had ‘taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the U.K. in any format.’ It said the decision had been made with Rooney’s agreement.” (10/15/26)
- Microsoft’s president warns White House against skilled immigration crackdown
Source: Politico
“Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith delivered a broadside Wednesday against President Donald Trump’s push to block the path to permanent residency for highly-skilled immigrants, warning the White House that its plan could cripple the U.S. tech sector for over a generation. In an exclusive interview with Decoded by POLITICO, Microsoft’s informal No. 2 suggested it was ironic that the White House chose to target his company’s foreign workers on the same day it gave a medal to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, a former H-1B skilled visa holder from India. ‘We should consider the fact that when the president honored six Americans with these technology and science medals, five of the six had come to the United States as immigrants,’ Smith told Decoded on the sidelines of the International AI Summit in Dublin, Ireland.” (10/15/26)
- North Korea and China Open Their Biggest Border Bridge
Source: New York Times
‘North Korea and China on Thursday opened the New Yalu River Bridge, the largest border crossing between the two countries, a sign of growing trade despite international sanctions aimed at constraining North Korea’s economy and nuclear weapons program. In the weeks leading up to the opening ceremony, travelers returning from the river border reported that trucks and cars were already crossing the four-lane, nearly two-mile long bridge from China into North Korea. The bridge connects the Chinese city of Dandong to Sinuiju, a North Korean city on the Yalu River that forms much of the border between the two countries. Its opening, which was reported by the Chinese state media, comes just a month after North Korea and Russia inaugurated their first — and much smaller — road bridge across the Tumen River border.” (10/15/26)
- Musk denies SpaceX restricted Starlink in Ukraine, blames US regime
Source: United Press International
“SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed claims his company had restricted connectivity speeds of its Starlink services in Ukraine that the military there said had thrown a wrench into its operations, saying the Trump administration was the likely culprit behind any service disruption. Writing on X on Wednesday, Musk said the system supplied to the Ukraine Armed Forces was a military-grade version of the satellite high-speed internet service over which SpaceX had no control. ‘Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. Government. Any limits on speeds or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS [the President of the United States].’ … Musk’s comments came after advisers to Zelensky said that on Tuesday evening connectivity aboard Starlink-equipped UAVs suddenly started being strangled when they exceeded 100 mph, prompting officials to ask Musk to remove any restrictions.” (10/15/26)
- Hezbollah admits seized explosives shipment is its own, demands return
Source: The New Arab [UK]
“Hezbollah has admitted ownership of a massive explosives shipment seized by Lebanese security forces, insisting the materials were intended for use against Israel while openly rejecting a government ban on its military activities. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah confirmed on Thursday that the vehicle and its cargo belonged to the group, demanding the immediate release of two detained men and the return of the confiscated explosives. The admission marks a significant escalation in the confrontation between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government, which has launched an investigation into the shipment amid fears that the materials could be used in political assassinations.” (10/15/26)
https://www.newarab.com/news/hezbollah-says-seized-explosives-were-fighting-israel
- US Treasury Pushes Global Partners to Rename AI as ‘Super Intelligence’
Source: US News & World Report
“The United States wants its global partners to rename artificial intelligence as ‘super intelligence,’ convinced that the new moniker better reflects the emerging technology, a top US Treasury official told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Erin Browne said Washington was in negotiations with other shareholders of the International Monetary Fund about using the new term in a statement being drafted by the fund’s steering committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee. US President Donald Trump last month directed US government agencies to use the words ‘super intelligence’ instead of ‘artificial intelligence’ when referring to the technology. Browne said the United States, which holds the rotating presidency of the Group of 20 major economies, wanted the change to take hold internationally as well.” [editor’s note: Based on this nonsense, I have to believe that “Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs” is a vestigial position with no plausible case for retention – TLK] (10/15/260
- TX: Glitch Delays 600,000 Voter Registrations as Early Voting Looms
Source: New York Times
“A computer error caused a backlog of hundreds of thousands of voter registrations in Texas, sending election workers scrambling to process them before early voting starts on Monday, county election officials said. The backlog of nearly 600,000 applications stemmed from a glitch in software run by the Texas Department of Public Safety, according to a lawsuit filed last week by voting rights groups. They accused the agency, as well as the secretary of state, who serves as Texas’ chief election officer, of failing to to maintain a reliable online voter registration system. … The backlog appeared to have been mostly cleared by Wednesday, according to county election officials, several of whom said there was little risk that Texans who tried to register would be unable to vote. But some voting advocates said they worried that the episode might discourage voters from turning out at all.” (10/15/26)
- Pakistan: At least 33 pupils and teacher killed after school roof collapses
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“At least 33 pupils and a teacher have been killed after a school roof collapsed in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar, according to hospital officials. More than a dozen others are injured, with some in a critical condition. Emergency services were called to the private Al-Khair school in Dir Colony at 08:48 (03:48 GMT) on Thursday after lessons had begun, rescue official Bilal Faizi told the BBC. The roof of an upper-floor classroom had collapsed, he said, causing ceilings below to cave in and trap children beneath the debris. Announcing the arrest of the school’s owner, police chief Mian Saeed promised a thorough inquiry into ‘whether there were any violations of building codes’.” (10/15/26)
- Romania: Nominated Prime Minister Secures Support Ahead of Confidence Vote
Source: US News & World Report
“Romania’s leftist Social Democrats said they will join the government of Prime Minister-designate Luca Niculescu while other parties pledged their votes, edging the country closer to ending a political crisis that has pressured its investment-grade rating. The Social Democrats (PSD), parliament’s largest party, will have 11 ministers in the proposed government Niculescu will unveil on Thursday before a parliamentary vote of confidence, PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said late on Wednesday. Technocrats will fill other ministerial posts, including finance, energy and foreign affairs. While other pro-European parties refrained from joining the cabinet, many said they will back Niculescu, ensuring the 233 votes required to win the vote of confidence.” (10/15/26)
- Report: Israeli regime has abducted more than 2,000 Palestinian children since 2023
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Israeli forces have [abducted] more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said. In a report released on Wednesday, the Palestinian rights group said Israeli authorities continue to escalate their targeting of Palestinian children. At least 350 Palestinian children are currently facing ‘harsh conditions’ in Israeli prisons. … The organisation said information regarding the number of children arrested in Gaza is unclear, given the thousands of missing persons in the besieged Gaza Strip, including children, and the ongoing policy of enforced disappearance. The group said Israel’s policy of detention without charges or a release date constitutes ‘an additional violation and crime that leaves children facing the unknown and deprives them of family and educational stability’.” (10/15/26)
- Prosecutors seeking life sentences for real estate brokers, brother convicted of sex trafficking
Source: NBC News
“Federal prosecutors in New York are seeking life sentences for two former luxury real estate brokers and their brother, who were convicted this year of using their influence to drug and sexually abuse women over several years, according to court documents. … ‘They spent years designing, executing, and perfecting their playbook of luring victims with promises of luxury, drugging victims so they could not resist, and then forcibly raping them,’ prosecutors wrote. The brothers were found guilty of 10 counts of engaging in a yearslong conspiracy of rape, sex trafficking, sex abuse and sexual exploitation. They pleaded not guilty but were convicted in April after a trial in which 11 accusers testified.” (10/14/26)
- Albania: Protests turn violent as protestors demand PM Rama’s resignation
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday said he would not resign over violent student-led protests that entered their third consecutive day. Rama said he would not allow the violence to derail Albania’s goal of joining the European Union, according to written responses to Reuters. Anti-government protests in Albania’s capital left several official buildings badly damaged and at least one on fire late Wednesday as demonstrations spiralled into violence for a second straight night.” (10/14/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20261014-albania-protests-protestors-demand-pm-rama-resignation
- Annual Fundraiser: Well, That De-Escalated Quickly!
Hey, everyone …
I always like to open these daily appeals with thank-yous, so I’ll just RE-thank MB, JM, and RW, whose combined $470 in donations on Tuesday brought our annual fundraiser total to $755.50.
Which is exactly where it still sits, as of 5am, after a “zero-dollar Wednesday.”
We’re 27% of the way to our goal ($2,751.50, after which supporter GL will “match funds” to get us to the $5,503 finish line) … and need YOU to keep that ball rolling.
The sooner we reach our goal, the sooner I stop talking about money ENTIRELY for the rest of the year and MOSTLY until NEXT October, so …
PLEASE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT’S DAILY NEWSPAPER!
… and after you do that, have a wonderful Thursday!
Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily - Two cargo ships sunk in Strait of Hormuz as Iranian regime ramps up attacks
Source: CNN
“Two cargo ships have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours after being struck by unknown projectiles in separate incidents – highlighting the heightened danger to shipping as Iran steps up attacks in an attempt to regain control over the critical waterway. The Singapore-registered container ship GFS Pride was struck on Tuesday while passing through the strait, catching fire and later sinking, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. All crew members were safely evacuated. …The merchant vessel Cape Dao, registered under Antigua and Barbuda, also sank, according to data from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Wednesday – after it was first hit by projectile on September 23. One Indian crew member was killed.” (10/15/26)
https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/15/middleeast/strait-of-hormuz-ships-sunk-iran-intl-hnk
- SCOTUS again backs Republicans’ push to expand political ad rate socialism
Source: Yahoo! News
“The US Supreme Court again sided with Republicans on Wednesday in the latest clash over a new Federal Communications Commission policy that gives party committees access to discounted TV and radio advertising rates long available to political candidates. … The FCC, which currently has a 2-1 Republican majority, modified its so-called ‘lowest unit charge’ rule in March in a move seen as a boost to President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans. … The FCC policy at issue requires broadcasters to charge discounted rates for airing certain political advertisements within 60 days of a general election, a window that opened this year on September 4.” (10/14/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/us-supreme-court-again-backs-204225313.html
- Ukrainian regime will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries, Zelenskyy says
Source: Politico
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he has ordered the resumption of strikes on Russian oil refineries, as the Kremlin’s forces continue to attack energy infrastructure in Ukraine. ‘The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We’re done,’ Zelenskyy said in interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday evening. Zelenskyy stopped striking Russian energy facilities for three days after U.S. President Donald Trump declared he had brokered an energy ceasefire between Kyiv and Moscow. Trump repeatedly urged Ukraine to halt its attacks and blamed the country for rising fuel prices — while also calling for Zelenskyy to be replaced as president. Ukraine was eager to reach an ‘energy truce,’ Zelenskyy told the FT, but Russia has continued its strikes on Ukrainian plants and oil facilities, saying it never agreed to such a ceasefire.” (10/15/26)
- Eight US state regimes file latest frivolous lawsuit against OpenAI
Source: NBC News
“Eight states sued OpenAI on Wednesday, accusing it of deceiving parents about the safety of ChatGPT. The coordinated lawsuits — filed individually in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho and Montana — target the AI giant for the harms its generative AI chatbot is alleged to have caused to children in those states. … The state lawsuits follow another proposed class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco, which accuses OpenAI of unlawfully taking ‘vast amounts of highly sensitive and valuable data’ from millions of children who used ChatGPT.” (10/14/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/openai-sued-eight-states-alleged-harm-chatgpt-rcna603614
- Trump rejects international election monitors, breaking two-decade tradition
Source: The Hill
“President Trump is breaking a more than two-decade-long tradition of welcoming a key group of international election observers to monitor the midterm contest, drawing criticism for discouraging democratic transparency. The U.S. has routinely invited election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe and report on midterm and presidential contests since 2002. Election observations are carried out by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Trump’s decision puts the U.S. in the same basket as the isolated, autocratic regimes of Belarus and Russia.” (10/14/26)
https://thehill.com/policy/international/6145244-trump-breaks-election-observer-tradition
- Fossilflation is a permanent risk to the US
Source: Semafor
by Tim McDonnell“Fossil fuels are an economic liability, and not just because of the war in Iran. Rising energy costs were a major driver of the hotter-than-expected US inflation figures reported yesterday. This fact won’t surprise anyone reading this newsletter. Still, the numbers are pretty astonishing: Behind an overall gain of 3.7% across all goods and services in the past 12 months, gasoline prices are up 34.2%, and fuel oil prices (relevant mostly for home heating) are up 74.2%. The proximal cause is the war, of course, and the figures cement that US President Donald Trump has by now run out of time to change the picture ahead of the midterm election. But the broader takeaway here is that the inherent volatility of oil and gas prices is a persistent vulnerability in the US economy that can only be solved by limiting exposure to these energy sources.” (10/15/26)
https://www.semafor.com/article/10/15/2026/fossilflation-is-a-permanent-risk-to-the-us
- Tech Plutocrats Will Not Lead Us Into A Healthy Future
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“It says so much about how diseased our society has become that the most revered and respected among us are emotionally stunted man-babies who have used monopolistic thuggishness and trickery to become billionaires. Bezos. Musk. Thiel. Altman. Ellison. These neurotic freaks have no redeeming characteristics and nothing going for them as people beyond a knack for extracting wealth from the working class, and yet they’re the ones calling the shots for the trajectory our species is going to follow into the future. They’re the ones making headlines and receiving groveling softball interviews from sycophantic reporters and podcasters. They’re the ones our warped civilization points to as role models we should all strive to be like. These men are not wise. They don’t know how to live happy lives. They are ideologically opposed to providing for the common good of everyone.” (10/15/26)
- Rethinking Louisiana’s Building Code
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Isabella Albano“Home is where the heart is, and for many Louisianans, owning a house is an important part of the American dream. But as home prices have climbed to record heights, homeownership is becoming less attainable for many. Building codes are a significant contributor to this affordability problem.” (10/15/26)
https://fee.org/articles/rethinking-louisianas-building-code/
- St. Louis Residents Should Think Twice Before Supporting New Charitable Taxes
Source: Show-Me Institute
by David Stokes“Everyone wants to help kids and senior citizens, right? Who could oppose a new sales tax in the City of St. Louis to fund early childhood education and daycare? And who could be against a new property tax in St. Louis County for services designed to help seniors stay in their homes? Well, I could. Politicizing charity and mandating it through law is dangerous. St. Louisans would be wise to think twice before going down this road.” (10/15/26)
- A new report just busted another myth about heat pumps
Source: Grist
by Matt Simon“You may have heard by now that heat pumps — which transfer warmth from outdoor air to an indoor space, instead of generating it like a furnace — don’t work when it gets really cold out. That’s incorrect, as models designed for frigid climes can keep you toasty even in the dead of winter. Don’t believe me? Look no further than the Nordic countries, which have fully committed to them despite the region’s not-exactly-balmy winters. OK, so heat pumps are more efficient than ever, which is why Americans seem to be warming up to the appliances. But surely, since they’re electric, switching to them en masse will push the grid to collapse? That’s also false.” (10/15/26)
https://grist.org/solutions/a-new-report-just-busted-another-myth-about-heat-pumps/
- What’s at Stake in the Omar Case
Source: Unpopular Front
by John Ganz“One’s personal opinion of Omar’s character or her politics is immaterial. This is a serious assault on the constitutional order being carried out through the executive branch’s legal and bureaucratic machinery. Perhaps the reason that the public response is so tepid is that we have so long taken for granted—or simply no longer understand—just how fundamental the questions involved really are. This move strikes at some of the most elementary assumptions of a free and republican government, principles so basic that we scarcely imagined they would need defending: that political opposition is legitimate, that the executive cannot determine the composition of the legislature, and that citizenship is not a privilege held at the pleasure of those in power.” (10/15/26)
https://www.unpopularfront.news/p/whats-at-stake-in-the-omar-case
- AI vs. the railroads
Source: Noahpinion
by Noah Smith“A year and a half ago, the AI boom was still significantly smaller than the railroad boom of the late 1800s, as a percent of GDP. Now, there’s an active argument as to which one is bigger. This debate doesn’t really matter, because the basic message is just ‘Wow, it’s a lot of money.’ But it’s fun to look at the numbers people are throwing around.” (10/15/26)
- Licensure Is a Protection Racket for Lawyers
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“To get a government-issued license to practice law, one generally has to pass a state bar examination. The California bar exam is one of the hardest in the country to pass. That ensures that fewer people are able to secure law licenses. The notion is that a state-issued law license protects the public from incompetent and unethical lawyers. How’s that working out? It seems to me that there are lots of incompetent and unethical lawyers in every state of the United States. Why did the state issued licenses to them to practice law? In actuality, difficult bar exams and licensure requirements are nothing more than a protection racket.” (10/15/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/10/15/licensure-is-a-protection-racket-for-lawyers/
- El-Sayed’s own words reveal a radical plan to dismantle the Second Amendment
Source: Fox News
by JP Pichardo“‘What if we tweaked the Constitution, amended the Second Amendment, and instead of the right to bear arms, we change it to the right to have healthcare?’ That is not a college activist. That is Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for United States Senate in Michigan, talking into his own camera, on his own channel. And it is one of many videos that he quietly made private from his channel once he decided he wanted a seat in the world’s most powerful legislative body. A U.S. Senate nominee from one of the two major national parties, who has a legitimate chance to win, actively floated the idea of replacing the Second Amendment — not merely regulating it, which would be bad enough. This is not your typical anti-gun Democrat rhetoric. This is a dangerous and new precedent coming from far-left Democrats.” (10/15/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/el-sayed-words-reveal-radical-plan-dismantle-second-amendment
- Progressive Buyer’s Remorse
Source: Law & Liberty
by Paul Moreno“The left is rediscovering century-old arguments for crippling the Supreme Court.” (10/15/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/progressive-buyers-remorse/
- $90? Call me when Trump’s midterm voter bribes get better
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke“The bad news for Republicans is that the last inflation report before the midterm elections showed that overall prices in September were nearly 4% higher than the same time last year, and gas prices specifically surged 34%. The good news is that Republican candidates, whose operating philosophy seems to be ‘eating is overrated,’ have President Donald Trump on the midterms campaign trail offering voters all kinds of free things. … With just under three weeks to go until the Nov. 3 midterms, and with polling looking horrendous for Republicans, possibly because everything is terrible, I have a suggestion for my fellow opportunistic voters: Hold out! Better bribes are coming. I don’t need a pardon (that I know of), I don’t for a second believe Trump will give me $5,000 after the election (I wasn’t born yesterday), and $90 or $500 bribes are for rubes and desperate ne’er-do-wells.” (10/15/26)
- Free Enterprise Transformed the American South
Source: The Daily Economy
by Paul McDonnold“In the Old South, what had mattered was blood and land. It was a quasi-feudal society where it was difficult to rise above the station you inherited, nearly impossible if you were black. And when the tension created by slavery in a nation founded on freedom became untenable, the Civil War broke out, and the South was crushed. The Union’s victory owed at least as much to economic superiority as military proficiency. Though it took roughly a century, transforming the Southern economy required replacing its agrarian, slave-based order with a more modern, freer, more diversified system. In Houston, the transformation was spurred by the oil industry. In Charlotte, it was banking. And in northwest Arkansas, it was retail, with Walmart founder Sam Walton becoming the richest person in the United States in 1982.” (10/15/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/free-enterprise-transformed-the-american-south/
- Sino-American Relations In a Post-Summit World
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen“When Xi Jinping departed Washington at the end of September, the verdict was already plain. Another carefully choreographed encounter produced a short extension of the trade truce, a modest $30 billion reciprocal tariff arrangement on non-sensitive goods, some coal purchases, an AI dialogue, and the familiar language of ‘constructive strategic stability.’ Ceremonial pomp, pandas, and mutual professions of personal friendship filled the space where real structural progress was absent. The outcome matched what I had advised readers to expect in the runup—namely, that the deeper frictions, technology controls, Taiwan, and Washington’s persistent urge to police Beijing’s commercial relationships, would remain unresolved. Having given things a chance to breathe, now is a good time to look at what has transpired since Xi and Trump’s meeting and to look to the road ahead.” (10/15/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/sino-american-relations-in-a-post-summit-world/
- On Inflation, Trump Snatched Defeat from the Jaws of Victory
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“One of the great ironies of American politics is that Donald Trump won the 2024 election basically because a significant number of credulous voters believed his promises to bring prices down beginning on ‘day one.’ What actually happened was that America, along with the rest of the world, experienced a temporary surge in inflation in 2021-22, mainly because of the lingering effects of Covid disruptions. And voters still blamed Joe Biden for that surge. But by 2024 the war against inflation had been largely won, at startlingly low cost — the recession many analysts claimed would be necessary to get inflation down never happened, but inflation came way down anyway. And then Trump snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.” (10/15/26)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/on-inflation-trump-snatched-defeat
- The War on Drug Trafficking as a Tool of US Domination in Central and South America
Source: CounterPunch
by Ariela Ruiz Caro“The framework of combating drug trafficking serves as the United States’[s] primary mechanism for geopolitical control in the region. The recently announced ‘Plan Patriota Siglo XXI’–in which De la Espriella asks the United States to fund technology, radar systems, and cyberdefense and announces the resumption of aerial spraying, with Rubio leaving open the possibility of establishing a joint military base in Colombia—or the delivery of coast guard vessels to Ecuador, are not acts of philanthropy, but rather part of a circular business model designed by and for the U.S. military-industrial complex. The U.S. industrial complex reaps economic profits at the very moment its commercial establishments—authorized to sell weapons to the public—supply the cartels.” (10/15/26)
- How Can Dems Persuade Wary Voters They Will Really End the Iran War?
Source: Common Dreams
by Jamal Abdi“The war on Iran—and the economic toll that President Donald Trump’s decision has taken on all aspects of Americans’ lives—is now the top issue on the campaign trail heading into November. Should Democrats take majorities in the House and Senate, they will have an unmistakable mandate to end the war. Yet many voters I talk to remain skeptical that a Democratic Congress would actually have the will and capability to stand up to Trump and force an end to the war. This is despite Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who hopes to be Speaker in a Democrat-led House, promising to end the war if they win. … If Democrats are serious about this promise, they should make a more ironclad commitment: A Democratic Congress will use its significant powers to deny any and all funding for continued US participation in this war.” (10/15/26)
- The Epistemic Corruption of Biomedical Science
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Josh Guetzkow“Health sciences today all too often function as a sophisticated propaganda system for pharmaceutical products, as the Covid‑19 vaccine rollout showed on an unprecedented scale. Since at least the 1980s, scientific institutions, journals, regulators, and mainstream news media have been gradually restructured to align knowledge production, communication, and censorship with corporate interests. This is an argument not against biomedical science but for a science of integrity, honesty, and humanity.” (10/15/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-epistemic-corruption-of-biomedical-science/
- By pursuing a big ‘win’ in Iran, Trump is destined to lose
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Paul R Pillar“Trump always has viewed the world as a zero-sum game. Whether the subject is military conflict, trade agreements, or real estate deals, he regards most outcomes as having a winner and a loser. He also never admits a mistake and certainly will not do so publicly regarding the current war. Thus the conflict continues as a search for something Trump can claim as a ‘win.'” (10/15/26)
- China According to China
Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia“The Pax Sinica to which Xi Jinping aspires will be no imperialism-free paradise, but a world made safe for autocracy and domestic terror.” (10/15/26)
- How non-state alliances are reshaping the global order
Sourc: Asia Times
by John P Ruehl“From the Houthis to Mexican cartels, non-state actors are forging global networks that private-sector ties make hard to hamper.” (10/15/26)
https://asiatimes.com/2026/10/how-non-state-alliances-are-reshaping-the-global-order/
- Trump Betrayed Ukraine. Here’s What’s Next.
Source: The Next Move
by Garry Kasparov“After the diesel deal and Starlink restrictions, Ukraine’s friends must act.” (10/14/26)
https://www.thenextmove.org/p/trump-betrayed-ukraine-heres-whats
- How the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act Made a Bad Situation Worse
Source: Liberalism.org
by Radley Balko“A little-known law closes off federal appeals, even for the admittedly innocent. That’s by design.” (10/14/26)
- Fusionism and its Limits
Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin“Fusionism is far preferable to nationalism and postliberalism. But it has shortcomings of its own, and its political prospects are questionable.” (10/14/26)
https://reason.com/volokh/2026/10/14/fusionism-and-its-limits/
- California election officials offer absurd excuses in fight against illegal voting
Source: California Post
by staff“California’s uber-lax voting system is an international disgrace. From flooding the state with ballots (with few controls on who returns them), to weeks of post-Election-Day counting, to a ban on Voter ID: The system’s almost seems engineered to seed public doubt — or worse. Yet state officials refuse to clean it up. Good for the feds, then, for pressing the issue. In recent months, Team Trump has investigated — and in some cases, prosecuted — voting fraud in California. Now, the Justice Department has given the state and LA County an ultimatum: Review and quarantine ballots that might have been sent to noncitizen voters, or face emergency litigation. And do it within 48 hours.” (10/14/26)
- Now We’re Seeing the Extent of American Decay
Source: Foreign Policy
by Howard W French“From Hegseth’s plans to Trump’s theatrics, it’s hard to know what to be most outraged about.” (10/14/26)
- Whose Side Is Trump Really on in the Ukraine-Russia War?
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland“President Donald Trump is correct that Ukraine’s survival matters more for Europe’s security than it does for U.S. security. After all, during the Cold War, the United States lived with a more powerful Soviet Union that included Ukraine. Therefore, he is right to expect wealthy NATO countries to pay more for Ukraine’s defense. Yet Trump has gone too far by essentially changing sides and backing aggressive Russian President Vladimir Putin; in contrast, President Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, had backed Ukraine wholeheartedly. Trump has blamed Ukraine for a war that Russia started by its invasion and has pressured the defending country to achieve peace by giving up territory it has not lost militarily.” (10/14/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/10/14/whose-side-is-trump-really-on-in-ukraine-russia-war/
- Puzzles
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“Someone invents an inexpensive and reliable way in which parents can choose the gender of their offspring. From the economic standpoint, this represents an increase in quality — you get a child of your preferred gender instead of a fifty-fifty chance — at no significant increase in cost. Increased quality at constant cost corresponds to decreased cost at constant quality; you are now getting more for your money. Lowering the cost of something increases the quantity demanded. Do you conclude that, as a result of the new invention, the birth rate goes up? If not, why not? Are children Giffen goods?” (10/14/26)
- OpenAI’s ironic credibility problem
Source: Understanding AI
by Dan Kagan-Kans“How do we know the company’s stated reasons for firing three safety researchers are its actual reasons?” (10/14/26)
https://www.understandingai.org/p/openais-ironic-credibility-problem
- Campus deplatformings hit record high
Source: Expression
by Sean Stevens“Campus deplatforming attempts have reached a disturbing new milestone. For the first time since FIRE began tracking these incidents, more than 200 attempts to prevent invited speakers from appearing on campus have been recorded in a single year — and 2026 still has nearly three months to go. The previous record, set just last year, has already been shattered. And the problem isn’t confined to one side of the political spectrum.” (10/14/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/campus-deplatformings-hit-record
- Explaining Certificate of Need
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Jeffery L Degner“This explainer examines how layers of planning and regulation have resulted in barriers to entry and broken promises.” (10/14/26)
- The Senate Should Consider the Daines-Merkley Proposal
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“The Senate needs to actually work. Legislation that goes through the committee process often stalls because whichever party has the majority doesn’t want to burn valuable floor time. Too often, though, the chamber looks like a glorified human resources department, with nominations taking center stage while legislation waits for an opening. Advice and consent is an important constitutional responsibility. It shouldn’t become the Senate’s entire identity.” (10/14/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/the-senate-should-consider-the-daines
- AI Safety Is Not A Corporate Plot
Source: Astral Codex Ten
by Scott Alexander“AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI have long mentioned the possibility that their products could be existentially dangerous, but this has recently crescendoed into even more dire warnings, including suggestions that we have to pace the frontier, ie coordinate to slow AI progress. In response, cynical commentators have suggested this is a conspiracy to boost the companies’ stocks. The exact motives imputed vary from person to person. Some say the companies are hyping the product by talking about how dangerous it is …. Others say they’re trying to distract from near-term harms …. But the most popular story involves regulatory capture: if the product is unsafe, maybe it can only be trusted to a few big politically-connected companies, and everyone else should be banned. Many debates about AI are complicated and hard to resolve, but this one isn’t: all of these stories are clearly false.” (10/14/26)
https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ai-safety-is-not-a-corporate-plot
- The US Government Is Not America
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“One of the big problems with conservatives is that they conflate the U.S. government with America the nation. For them, the government and the country are one and the same thing. Thus, given that mindset, it stands to reason that if one criticizes or condemns the U.S. government’s evil and immoral acts in foreign affairs, conservatives consider that person to be criticizing our country. But that conservative conflation of the government and the country is totally wrong-headed. The fact is that we are talking about two separate and distinct entities: The U.S. government and America the country.” (10/14/26)
https://www.fff.org/2026/10/14/the-u-s-government-is-not-america/
- Trump’s Great Gift to Chinese Automakers
Source: The American Prospect
by Ryan Cooper“The latest inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is out, and the news is not great. The price of gasoline is up 34 percent over the last year, while the price of heating oil is up 74 percent. Diesel is up 70 percent just since August. All that, of course, is because of Donald Trump’s war in Iran, which shows no sign of ending. Just on Tuesday this week, Iran struck five different oil tankers in and around the Strait of Hormuz. In almost every country, the Trump oil shock has greatly accelerated the pace of the EV transition. … There’s just one major exception: the United States.” [editor’s note: So Americans are not ALL buying into the idea of a vehicle that can be controlled by availability and location of charging stations? Imagine that – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Americans buy into vehicles that can be controlled by availability and location of gas stations, don’t they? What’s the big difference there? – TLK] (10/15/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/10/15/trumps-great-gift-to-chinese-automakers-ev-sales-oil-diesel/
- Trump returns to Ohio as Democrats try to claw back his advantage
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel“Campaigns have a queasy rhythm to them — hype followed by panic followed by hype. We’ve reached the time in the cycle where the party that built a post-Labor Day polling lead begins to question its own confidence.” (10/14/26)
- Politico Playbook Audio Briefing, 10/15/26
- Rising, 10/15/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on a survey that shows Democrats have a net favorable view of socialism by 31 points.” (10/15/26)
- Liberal Currents Live, 10/15/26
Source: Liberal Currents
“Was it inevitable that bigotry would become so dominant within libertarianism, or could it all have gone differently?” (10/15/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/liberal-currents-live-libertarianism-captured-by-racism/
- Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 10/15/26
Source: Freedom’s Phoenix
“Shari Brown (Harvard-Educated Mathematician; Religious Scholar) on her book Seven Commandments for Happiness and Prosperity: Where Spirituality and Science Merge.” (10/15/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 10/15/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Boast about Rallies Backfires as Humiliating New GOP Leaks Hit.” (10/15/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/216651/trump-boast-rallies-backfires-humiliating-new-gop-leaks-hit
- Advisory Opinions, 10/15/26
Source: The Dispatch
“The Secrecy in Courts Dilemma.” (10/15/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/the-secrecy-in-courts-dilemma/
- Underthrow Podcast, 10/15/26
Source: Underthrow
“Civilization in Decline.” (10/15/26)
- System Update, 10/15/26
Source: System Update
“Saudi Arabia’s DISASTROUS, US-Backed War in Yemen Explained.” (10/15/26)
https://rumble.com/v7gvplq-saudi-arabias-disastrous-us-backed-war-in-yemen-explained.html
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 10/15/26
Source: The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen
“What did Madison, Washington, and Jefferson think about Religious Liberty?” (10/15/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/what-did-madison-washington-and-jefferson
- Interviews by Claire Lehmann, 10/14/26
Source: Quillette
“Former Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg tells Claire Lehmann why he believes Bondi was preventable, and what Australia needs on antisemitism, tax and economic reform.” (10/14/26)
https://quillette.com/2026/10/14/josh-frydenberg-on-bondi-antisemitism-and-a-grateful-son/
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 408
Source: Free the People
“The Radical Life of Thomas Sowell | Guest: Clifton Duncan.” (10/14/26)
- The Chris Hedges Report, 10/14/26
Source: The Chris Hedges Report
“How the Trump Admin. Is Expanding the Definition of ‘Terrorism’ — and What It Means (w/ Dan Boguslaw).” (10/14/26)
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/how-the-trump-admin-is-expanding
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 10/14/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“New Fed Report: Tariffs Taking Bigger Bite Out Of American Wallets.” (10/14/26)
- NPR Politics Podcast, 10/14/26
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“AI chatbots: the new voter guides?” (10/14/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/10/14/nx-s1-6001537/ai-chatbots-the-new-voter-guides
- The Inner Life of Liberalism, episode 7
Source: The Inner Life of Liberalism
“Freedom of a Loving Mind (with Maria Heim).” (10/14/26)
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2804
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“How Polls Sell Wars: Same Question, 40-Point Difference.” (10/14/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2804-how-polls-sell-wars-same-question-40-point-difference/
- LPA Two Hour Lunch Hour, episode 15
Source: LP Alliance
“Join us for our anything goes podcast every Wednesday at noon eastern!” (10/14/26)
- The David Frum Show, 10/14/26
Source: The Atlantic
“How Trump Is Selling Out Ukraine.” (10/14/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/10/david-frum-show-illia-ponomarenko-ukraine-trump/688994/
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 10/14/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Ghalibaf: US ‘Must Be Punished’ To Accept Iran Demands, Ansar Allah warns of More Attacks, and More.” (10/14/26)
- The Fifth Column, 10/14/26
Source: The Fifth Column
“Can the Democratic Center Hold?” (10/14/26)